tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post4490720104147593316..comments2024-02-28T11:29:36.860-05:00Comments on just up the pike: massive overhaul of the blairs turns parking lot into parksDan Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594208011755406956noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-66660571380676243822013-03-06T05:32:23.173-05:002013-03-06T05:32:23.173-05:00"Parking lot to remain parking lot until at l..."Parking lot to remain parking lot until at least 2024; long-time residents to be kicked out of downtown Silver Spring by February 2014" better summarizes the vision announced last February by the owner and manager of the Blairs, the Tower Companies.<br /> <br />The announced vision raises some questions:<br /><br />1) Why must we wait another decade to turn the parking lot into a park? <br />2) Why must we demolish existing buildings before building new ones, effectively pushing hundreds of long-term residents out of downtown Silver Spring? <br />3)Why has it taken a decade since additional housing was approved in 2000 to begin building?<br /><br />The answer to all three questions, in a word, is profit.<br /><br />Mortgage interest rates on multi-family housing are at an all-time low due to massive purchases of mortgage-backed securities by the US Treasury and Federal Reserve. This lowers the cost of financing new apartment buildings and promises unprecedented profits. Housing that was unbuildable just five years ago is now a high priority, with one important caveat. The savings from this enormous government housing subsidy ($85 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month purchased by the Fed alone) must not be passed on to residents nor frittered away on parks. Rather current residents must be replaced with more affluent ones and the park must wait until at least 2024.Noah Bray-Alihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03891966771225329964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-2184439384455314072013-02-25T14:37:28.534-05:002013-02-25T14:37:28.534-05:00Dan
I think you are missing the point when it com...Dan<br /><br />I think you are missing the point when it comes to car ownership, it is not how you get to work in. I have only driven to work for the 3 years I worked in White Oak, for all others I have always commuted by bus, metro or walking. I have lived in Brentwood, Silver Spring, U St DC and Springfield VA (there it was slug line). However I have always owned a car, people like their cars for weekends, shopping etc. Once you own one very few give it up, yes living in a downtown may delay the car a few years because of th ZIP and Cars2go<br />and how expensive it becomes due to lack of parking, when parking isnot provided then it commands a premium price. My friend at the Blairs is already paying $75 a month. The upside of this is that less parking means less cars which means less traffic for neighboring communities (ie me). <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02365894777007664010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-26612024998049027762013-02-21T22:04:28.967-05:002013-02-21T22:04:28.967-05:00As I said in the post, 60% of downtown Silver Spri...As I said in the post, 60% of downtown Silver Spring residents currently don't drive to work - they walk, bike or take transit. That's a recipe for low car ownership, especially in an area where there are so many things within walking distance. Ed Murn from the Tower Companies has said the ratio of parking space per apartment will actually go up under this plan, there very well could be a surplus of parking.<br /><br />Because of it's location, the project will generate far fewer car trips than if it weren't in the middle of downtown Silver Spring. That doesn't mean no one is going to bring a car, but it's going to be far lower than it would be in, say, Burtonsville, where there isn't as much you can walk to.<br /><br />I have plenty of friends who live in places like Columbia or Fairfax and keep cars, but have many others who live in Adams-Morgan or Columbia Heights and don't have cars. I'm pretty confident that it's the latter type who'll be drawn to places like the Blairs in the future.Dan Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10594208011755406956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-33968528520222184182013-02-19T19:31:58.816-05:002013-02-19T19:31:58.816-05:00This proposal has a lot going for it. But I have ...This proposal has a lot going for it. But I have to disagree with author in that there may be too much parking. Between the housing units and retail space the demand will be there. Yes we have policies trying to reduce car ownership, but I just don't see it happening. I believe any unit with more than 1 adult over the age of 24, will have at least one car. <br /><br />When visiting a friend at the Blairs this weekend, what was the issue; parking for guests.<br /><br />This is an issue even for the young as my 27 yr old daughter changed apartments in Bethseda from a close in apartment to one further up the pike, because the old place had no parking for guests, so friends were unable to visit.<br /><br />I lived in the Blairs in 1980 and now live in East Silver Spring, my concern is now becoming what does all this growth do to traffic on the secondary roads in the area.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02365894777007664010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-89536166389158149602013-02-16T12:16:46.779-05:002013-02-16T12:16:46.779-05:00I've lived in SS since 1975. My agency, NOAA, ...I've lived in SS since 1975. My agency, NOAA, moved to SS in '93, right across the street from The Blairs. This is exciting stuff to someone who remembers the ghost town that was SS in the 70s and how dreary it still was 20 years later when NOAA moved there (I would like to see NOAA get more credit for beginning the revitalization of the downtown btw). This is just what SS west of the RR tracks needs! Everyone who works or lives on the west side of the tracks are cut off from downtown SS with just two ways into the downtown: Colesville Rd or Georgia Ave These shops and restaurants will have a large customer base of people who are blocked by the tracks from easily going downtown. As someone who resists the exuberance of architect's renderings of the final project - filled with attractive, happy people with no litter or graffiti anywhere - nevertheless, I'm smitten with the overall design.<br /><br />I didn't realize this tract has a 40-50 foot change in elevation, making the 20 story buildings along E-W Hwy look even taller from Eastern Ave. and 16th St. Wow. <br /><br />I'm excited. I'm also 67 so please build this quickly!Trakkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16389022051821200376noreply@blogger.com